we spoke with lewis hay, executive chairman of next-era energy, the parent company of florida power and light. here's more of that conversation, beginning with the cost of the repair jobs for power companies in the northeast. >> well, this repair job is going to cost a huge amount of money. i don't think anybody can truly estimate what the cost is going to be. but it will be a lot of money. when we had hurricane wilma it cost us over a half a billion dollars. and this storm is much more extensive than-- expensive than that. the good news is the utilities have the balance sheets and the financial wherewithal to foot the bill. and you know,d their vendors aren't going to be sending them bills for quite some time. so they will get the equipment. they will get everything they need because the vendors know they will get paid. >> could this wind up as a rate increase in the months or years ahead as they try to pay for some of the storm damage can. they go back to their rates in those states. >> typically in a storm of this sort utilities do go back to their rate commissions. and seek what we